The Cedarville Herald, Volume 12, Numbers 27-52

STORY OF A LETTER. It W on a Mother Bapk to Health and Happiness. '•off wprlc so early?” James stopped in passing a boy who, like himself, was ono of the workers on a large raflob. Caleb’s stumpy fig­ ure was bending over a large table in ' the rough back porch and his late was drawn into a pucker which told that his task was no easy one. “ Yes, it’s early I know, hut it’s mail day to-morrow—and I thought I ’d send a letter.” "Folks back east?” asked James. “Well, I haven’t got many folks. Ain’t so well off as you are. It’s my stepmother, but she’s a good woman and likes to hear from me and I think 1ought to.” . i1 y No one ever thought o f taking Caleb for an exemplar in anything. He was slow and clumsy in his movements and never dreamed o f presuming to make a suggestion o f duty to anyone, ltut.it had come to be observed that Caleb was to be relied on. " I f you look for him where lie be­ longs lie is sure to be there," his em­ ployer had been heard to say. And some o f the boys*had noticed that Ca­ leb’s•quiet: “ I think I ought to” always referred to something he was sure to do. James hud intended calling upon Caleb for assistance in the turning o f water into the irrigating ditch upon which the crops so largely depended, but he now turned away and went by himself, with a weight at his heart and a shadow upon his brow. I f asked the reason for it he might have been slow to admit to anyone else that it was called there by a consciousness of neg­ lect ’ of duty, but the fact was very plain to himself. "Just a stepmother, I f Caleb thinks it’s a matter of ‘ought to’, write to her about every mail day I wonderwhat he’d do i f he had a mother and a father and a sister. Heigho! I'didn’t expect to be gone three years when I got mad and quit ” In the early springtime James had been seized with a spasm o f remorse at his long, cruel neglect of those Who loved him, to whom he was so much and to whom lie realized lie oiv'ed it to be sueli comfort " I ’l l , write. And some day I ’l l go back and do my best by ’em.” l i e did write, his letter carrying all the joy tVhicIi may be imagined into the old farmhouse. Father and mother bad answered, the sight o f their poor cramped handwriting bringing tears to the eyes of the wandering son. And Susan had written: 1 'Father says lie’ll never miss driving in to the post office on the days that u letter could get here after your mail day. And mother stands at the gate watching for him to come back.” I t had reached his heart and spurred him np to writing quite regularly for awhile. Then the intervals between his letters had grown longer, and now for weeks he had not written. Passing later again near Caleb’s rough library he paused with half a smile. The sun-tanned, freckled face was now, in the throes o f an effort to accomplish a fine-looking address to hisletter, drawn into a series of knots and wrinkles nstonishing to behold. A ll of a sudden they relaxed ihto a smile of pride and delight, as he held up and contemplated the scraggy re­ sult of his efforts. “ I ’d rather plow all day,’ * lie said, meeting James’ gaze with a beaming eye. "Yes, I would. I always feci as though I ’d tackled a b ig job and got the belter of it when I*ve wrote a let­ ter. 1 feel as light os a feather. When I used to let it slip sometimes I felt as though I .had a stone to carry. I feci that way now when writin’ time’s ■cornin’. But I ’ve- found the best way to get rid of that feelin’s just to get right at it and do it, I think that's the way with moat things when you think you ought to, don’ t you?" “ Yes, I do,” said James, as he went on toward the stables. “ And when you know yon ought to, as I do," he added to himself. Caleb followed him with a shout be­ tokening his unburdened condition of mind, and leading out one o f the shag­ gy ponies used in herding the cattle, was soon galloping the four miles to the point at which the weekly mail was gathered. Scant and irregular it was, and who can tell how many anxious hearts watched fo r its news o f loved ones, or waited in the weariness of hope deferred for tidings which did not come. The full moon arose over the wide expanse of rolling mountainous scen­ ery as the rider’s form was lost in the distance. James leaned against a rough cart and gaxed mechanically about him. “ I wish I had written too. I didn’ t mean to get into loose ways about it again—as sure as I lire I didn’ t, Mother watching at the gate* Snsy -said, 1s’pose it’s the aame old gate ~ the one I used to swing on whan I was little and get scolded fo r it, Next Tucsday’JI be the day mother’l l he watching." In the hush of the glorious light ms thoughts wandered over years gone by. Far back, almost to infancy, did hla memory stray, bringing up scenes vague and misty, incidents only dimiy recalled; yet In all bis mother's face, gentle and tender, seemed to stand out distinctly. .Sometime# it bent over him > sickness, sometimes be saw it as in church, with the grave expression put on foe the day. Sometime* it bore a •mile of sympathy with some oc bis small delights, again, perhapB, a frown or a grieved look, over his shortcom­ ings. “ Yes, end I remember exactly.how she looked when she whipped mo, and how she would come to me ten minutes afterwards crying and begging me never to make her do it again. Poor mother," with a remorseful smile, “ she didn’t give it to me half hard enough," “ I wonder how she looks now.” Tlio thought came with a sharp pang. It had never before occurred to him to wonder whether hfe mother had changed in these years in which he had- not seen her. The line of thought onpb struck seemed to lead on without his o>vn volition. It must .bo that the an­ guish of his abrupt leave-taking, the anxiety for his welfare and the long­ ing for a sight o f him during this weary time had writton deep, lines upon the patient face. "There’s Caleb back.’’ , James sprang up as if in glad escape from the heavy thoughts as the distant beat of hoofs smote upon bis car. “ She is only bis stepmother, andyet he walks up to the business like a soldier, bating it as lie does. Caleb has the making of a soldier in him. I believe.” James was many years older before ho could fully recognize the fact that there is nothing more, heroic than the persistent standing by the duties,, small or great, of every day life. "Hello Caleb,” he cried, “ you’ve made a quick trip.” “ Yes," said Caleb, still with the beaming face belonging w ith the fin­ ished letter/ “ Shag hasn’t been at work to-day, and ■he’s as full of jump as if—as if—he’d got a letter off him­ self." . Janies could not help joining in the hoy’s gleeful laugh. “ b wish I fe lt as you do, Caleb," ho’ said. " I ’ll tell you wliat," said Caleb, with the air o f one telling a great se­ cret, “ I don’t believe there’s anything makes you feel half so good ns doing something you think you ought to do.” “ Not going to turn iu?" he asked, re­ turning from the stable, after giving his little nag faithful care, “ No, Fm going to write a letter." “ I’m glad ’tisn’t me,” with an ex­ pressive shake of his head. " I ’m tired enough to sleep for a week.” . Mother was not. watching at the gate on the Tuesday on which a letter might be expected from James. Indeed, there' sometimes crept over father and Susan a cold chill of fear that she. might never (stand there or anywhere else again. •For the feet which had taken so many steps in loving ministering, which had So patiently held to the round of small duties laid out by Him who or­ ders all our ways, were at last taking a rest She had been suffering with a low fever, and the doctor shook his head with a discouraged face as day followed day, to he lengthened ihto week following week, and still the pulse grew weaker and the faded eye dimmer. ' ‘I f there was anything to rouse her," the old doctor had said, sorely per-' plexed at the utter lack o f result to all Ilfs applied remedies. “ There isn't so much the matter with her—only a lack of vitality. Notliingscems to touch it.” He sat with a helpless, baffled look. During the latter weeks Susan had stolen out on Tuesday for a little sea­ son of wistful watching for the longed- for letter which had never come. But to-day she sat still, weighed down by the burden o f dread of what might be’, scarcely hearing the slow rumble of the wagon as father drove along tbo lane. A few moments later he ap­ peared at the door and held up a letter before Susan’s eyes. She forgot her caution in a glad spring towards him, “ A letter! A letter from James!” She controlled her voice to a whis­ per, but mother hod been stirred from her half-stupor, and had opened'her eyes. The doctor was watching her. “Rcad.it," he said, motioning Susan to the scat at her mother’s side. ‘•D kar M other : I ’ve been thinking to-night how long it is since I left home. I never thought It wonid bo so long, rosily l didn’t, when I got into a pet and cams off. And if I've won­ dered once why I did It I've wondered s thousand times, for I haven’t in all these three years seen any place that was quite np to home. And if I was to stay three timea three, I'd never find anybody like yon and father and Susy. ’•There's another thing. I've been wondering, and that’s whether you want to see such a good-for-nothing as me there again." A little sob came from mother, and Susan paused in alarm, “Go on," motioned the doctor, “ But I ’mmost sure you do, and I'm coming home, mother. It won’t be so very long before you see me. I've learned a lot of lessons since I left and the one I've learned the best is that atty boy who goes around the world hunting for a better place than home Is a simpleton. So I ’m coming to be your boy again. And if you don’t find that loan be a comfort to you and father and Susy, why, ail you can do la to send me away again." “Iler fever’ll be up again," said Susy, bending over her mother in a flutter of joy and anxiety. But there was ai smile on mother's face and a light of hope and peace in her eyes which liad long been wanting there. “Thank God,” she whispered. “Mj» boy's coming home." And when James very soon followed hts letter he held his breath at learn­ ing how very near he had come to find­ ing a desolate horns, pad thankfully re­ joiced In the blessed privilege of win­ ning his mother back to health and h^hers^we many boya who put off the home-letter* and home-coming until too late.—Sydney Dayre, In tf> Y* Ob- asfvsr. PERSONAL A ND IMPERSONAL. —Henry Yillard, the famous railroad man, began life as a reporter,- but i lie did not happen to be a favorite with the citv editors he was compelled to throw up his job and become a million­ aire. —*As a dancer the kaiser is not a suc­ cess. Iio is< stiff and unbending as a ramrod. He whirls with great rapid­ ity, and everybody on the floor gets out of his way—hot so much from respect for royalty as to prevent broken shins and torn costumes. —There is a thrifty farmer in the west who pays twenty-five cents a day less to those of his hands who work iu the field nearest to the railroads, This he‘does because (they stop whenever the trains go by, and so lose one-sixth o f their working time. —The oil excitement at McDonald, Pa , has. poured wealth into the laps o f several poor people. The luckiest so far heard from is Mrs. Bertie Mc­ Call um, who from a small piece of land Bho once tried to sell for S250 has already recc-ivod S25,000 in rentals. —The Coreau minister at Washing­ ton and his wife are otten unique feat­ ures^! the theaters,, which it is their delight to attend. They have a box, and when the curtain rises, they bring their chairs close to -the railing, and, with elbows on knees, lean forward and watch the play with unmistakable delight painted on their faces. —Mrs Grover Cleveland is a- very cautious letter-writer, never using a sheet of paper when the reply can be written on a visiting card. The Ideas of Mr. Pendennis and the ex-president are alike regarding letters, and -his charming wife submits the correspond­ ence of the day to him, with the sweet privilege of sealing or destroying it. —A timid man, living alone in the outskirts of Hartford, has hit upon a novel device for scaring away burglars. Each night upon retiring ho places a huge pair o f boots outside of every bed-room door in the house to convey the impression that every chamber is occupied by an able-bodied man. A burglar who happened in would think he had struck a hotel. —Fifteen keen and courageous. Cor- sicians' form the. czar’s body-guard. They accompany the czar almosteverv- where,.sometimes in uniform; and have oven to l($ep watch in the imperial kitchen and occasionally act os cooks. Three of them can never be convinced that the; wine lias not been drugged, and they insist upon "tasting” fresh bottles three or four times a day. —An American woman returning per­ manently to her native home after a long residence ’ in Japan says that her chief sorrow in leaving tho Mikado’s land was due to the fact that she had to give up her collection of teapots. " I had over five hundred of them," she wails, “every one a gem, and it took me days of thought and choosing to select tho fifty 1 permitted myself to bring home with me.” “ A LITTLE NONSENSE.’ —A Hopeless Case.—He—"What way shall we go homo?” She—“ Tho short­ est,” Then he gave up all hope. —Small girl (after eating a pepper­ mint drop)—“ Whow-ce! don't it make your month windy?”—Kate - Field’s Washington. —A Trade Secret—Customer—^Why do yon spell cream, creine?” Clerk (in a burst of confidence)—"So that , wo can cliargo a higher price for i t " — Yankee Blade. —“ It’s unaccountable," ho said, as lie stood on the scales, after a walk on the beach. “ I'vo gained five pounds in one hour." "Have you emptied the Band out of your shoes?" she asked.—Harp­ er’s Bazar. —Walter—"Guests usually remember the waiter here, air.” Uncle Si—“ Do they? Wa’al, I’ll take a good look at ye. You ain’t got no marks, but 1 guess I’ll know ye fcgain when 1 soe ye.”—N. Y. Press. —An Added Zest—“ Why do you not cat your apple. Tommy?” “ I'm waitin’ till JohnnyBriggs comes along. Apples tastes lots better when there's some other kid to watch you eat ’em.”—In­ dianapolis Journal. —Barber (to Irish customer)- “ Gracious! Dow unanimously your hair has adjourned! Better try some of (ny tonic; it w ill bring the hair all out again." Customer—“ There's slunall sinse in repatin’ the operation, sor! It's out alridy, an* let is ahtay ou t’’—Boston Journal. —Rhubarb Pie. — Physician— “ Did your husband take the rhubarb as prescribed?" Mrs, Flanagan—“ Yes, sor, but the poor mon like to have died bekasc o f i t ” Physician—“Why, I ’m surprised. How muckAid ho take at a dose?" Mrs. Flanagan—“ A Whole poy, sor."—Pharmaceutical Era. —A Good Keepsake.—Mr. Noodle— “ Give me, dearest, er$ you go, some­ thing that I can wear next my heart, to remember you by." Miss Emetine— “ A ll rights mother has brought some real nice mustard plasters, and 1*11 give yon one of them. 1 trust you wilt re­ member me if you wear i t ” —Phar­ maceutical Era —He Was an Honest Man.—Five of six persons saw him pick up a ten-dol- lar gold piece from the floor of the street-car, and two or three said simul­ taneously: “1dropped that" “Fm an honest man," replied the finder, “end if t knew who lost this 1would restore It, bnt none of you fellows own It The man who dropped It got off the cat three aquerea back."—Smith, Gray A ' Co,'a Monthly. TEMPERANCE NOTES. , TEMPERATE BARKEEPERS. Mon Who Deal in Intoxicants anil "Sever Drink, "Never drank a drop of liquor in my Hfe." is a boast that sounds incredible coming from, the lips of "The” Allen, lint the fact remains that Allen is not a drinker, although ha lias passed the larger part of his Hfe among the most depraved people, of tho city, Tho keeper of a saloon, lie is in u rum* soakcil utmosphcrc all day. There is ruin at the back of him, rum in frout of hin^rutn ut the right of him and .rum a t’ the •left of him, but not u drop in'ids skin. “ Ruin is the one tiling I don’t take. See!” said Alien the other day. and he seems to have no craving for it what­ ever.. But he. is also cunning enough to know that to, retain the leadership of the gang which backs him up in bis "political and business” ventures, lie must keep a clear head. Allen, aSgthe keeper Of a gUunili and a strict teetotaler, is by no meuns an exceptional’case in this city, and inci­ dents occasionally occur that prove it. ■The other night a parly of well-dressed young men were having a merry, time in a saloon not far from Printing House square. They had had round after round'of drinks. Each'man in the party -had "set ’em up’-’ .once and it was time to begin again. . “ Hello!” said the one who liad or­ dered the libation that was being dis­ tributed by a bright looking bartender: "we’ve forgotton Bob. Come, old man, what w ill you have?” ' "Thank you, sir,” replied lie of the White jacket and smiling face. " I don’t think th a t! wilftake anything, sir." "Oh, come off, Bob!” was-the chorus. “ No, thank you, gentlemen,” answered Bob, “ but it’s against the rules of the place.” . “ Now. hang it, you’ve got to drink with us; see?” began one of the party with drunkon earnestness, as he banged his glass on the counter. “ No, sir,” said Bob,with’ a gleam of anger in his eve. “ I said that the rules of the place, forbid my drinking. Then again. 1never drank n drop of liquor in my life, so you must excuse me. ” Every man sliimiitcd his.glass on the counter iu amazement ■and the oldest man in the party hummed a few notes from "Everything’s Not As It Used to. lie.” ’ Bob laughed and said: • “ This is business with me; there's no sentiment about it. I accidentally be­ came a bartender five years ago, and as the work •is easy . and the wages good T have remained in the business. 1don't Crave for liquor, and, therefore, don’t drink. But it is not strange when you look, at it from a business point of view I was always some­ thing of an athlete, and was in train­ ing a large part of my time before I became a bartender. Now, when I got a job here I found that 1 met the big politicians of the, town. I like to talk with them, but they would,not want to bo served by a bartender who druilk. That's n fact, gouts, but, of course, that's not my real reasons for not drinking. 1 don’t care to drink, and a i >a tender must keep sober if lie is going to attend to business. There are lots’ like me.” As a matter of fact,’ there are many bartenders in tiic city who are prac­ tically teetotalers. And in a very great while a man is found among them who never lias drunk in his life; at least lie says so. But there lire scores of eases where bartenders practice temperance in drinking. As Bob puis it, it is a matter of business with them, There are, roughly esti­ mated. six thousand saloons In this city, nud each one employs from one to six bartenders. There sire, therefore, at least twelve thousund men in this city who earn their living by dispens­ ing drinks. Their wages range from ten dollars to thirty dollars a week, and there is naturally considerable competition among them. In large saloons which have the theater trade, for example, a drunken bartender would not hold his place long. “ No, sir,” said a bartender in a sa­ loon near tlic Casino, “ I don't drink once in a dog's age, and none of my mates do. Wo have the theatrical busi­ ness. I come on at six p. in., and from eight p. m, until midnight things hum. Of course it's liveliest between the acts, and then I don't have a minute's breathing spell. Suppose 1 should take something and go off my base after the first act—'what would happen? Tho other week we had a gent named Tom­ my, wlio came from Philadelphia, I guess. He used to take a nip before lie went to work. He had never done the theatrical business before, and he didn’t know wliat a stampede for drinks meant Well, sir, Tommy drank several Manhattan^ one night when lie was beginning work, and was pretty fly when the first act was over. Two fat men cainc up to him for sherry cob­ blers. One of them was an American and the other was an Englishman, who had never drunk a sherry cobbler. First thing I knew there was a spout­ ing as if two whales had been speared. I looked around nud seen the English­ man; red as fire in tliC’face, spitting his drink out and yelling for water—all at once. The other man was block in the face and gagging. They was full when they come, bnt they was sober now. Tommy had put rook salt into their sherries instead o f cracked ice. The last I heard o f Tommy he was saying ‘Heef and!’ down in the Bowery, He Won’t get no job in a first-class place for a long time to come for trying to murder those people.” Bnt there are many bartender,» who, Hits common mortals, struggle against the fleshpots of Egypt Ope man nol far from the bridge tikes to tell how hi keeps his pledge—to himself, lie swears off on New Year’s day. and lets the fact b6 known among his friends. He accepts every invitation to "have something,” but iie does not take it in the regular way. He always takes beer for his, lmt does not drink i t He simply marks down a glass to his credit .* anfi when the evening’s .work is over sits down and figures up how muck *>eer he lias got. lie says that he lias often got a keg o f beer ip an evening. , . ’ Tint," he said, “ it represented lots ’ of hard refusing, Still, w V n I get those fits I generally feel like man in a qandy store. He’s sick of candy, and couldn’t touch any o f it with A ten-foot pole. That’s the way l am taken some­ times, I feel as if I were soaked and soaked w ith ruin, and I get sick of i t Now, there's- a friend of mine in Now York, not fur from the bridge, who has a ciirious habit . lie. owns a place, but .< 1never see him drink behind his bar when tie is on duty, lie may, but I have never seen him. But after he goes off duty after midnight lie strikes this shop, first thing, and here he.stays for perhaps an hour setting up drink after drink. He says that he can’t drink with any degree o f enjoymont in his own establishment, but has to go out and .pay for it like any other man. You bet that nobody in his' shop drinks behind tho bar.”—N. Y. Advertiser. » ■ i . | r ALCOHOLISM IN AUSTRALIA. A Queer Statefo f Tilings in an .Enlight­ ened Country, There is no country in which so high a condition of general comfort, so lofty a standard of proved intelligence, and such large and varied meuns to intellectual excellence exist side by side with so much turbulence, so lax a commercial morality, and sueli over­ charged statistics o f drunkenness and - crimes of violence. Why should ’ a people which is among the best edu­ cated in the world be also among the least commercially sound, the rowdiest, and the most drunken? Let there he • nd mistake about the question or about tho cluirges which are involved in it. . Australian insolvencies are to British as four to one. Convictions in Austra­ lia are to convictions in the United Kingdom ns two to one. The figures given by Mr. H. IU Ilayter. C. M. G,, gov­ ernment statist’ of Victoria, though ap­ parently clouded with a purpose, prove the last charge beyond the chance of refutation. The highest, percentage of deaths from the abuse of alcohol is re­ corded in Australia. It is 11*1us against !i() even in Switzerland, -and as aguiust -Hi in England and ' Wales. In the figures given the issue is confused by the introduction of the statistics of "towns" and "principal towns" o f some few countries,'though even there Paris reaches no higher than 0,1and London fulls-to-74. In Ireland the deaths from alcoholism arc only a little over a quarter o f those registered for the Austrnlias, The towns of Denmurk rise-to the awful average .of 374, but it is evident that a full statMuent of the' facts wonid reduce it greatly.—Contem­ porary Review. PASSING NOTES. M o n t a n a has one liquor saloon to every 00 inhabitants; Iowa, one to 405; Maine, one to 702, and Kansas, one to 82J population. Mas. HAtmife, of New Orleans, a white-ribbonor, recently refused £.'> 0.00 for a small piece of land whose market value was*below that, when she learned it was wanted for the erection of sa­ loons. Tim man who frequents tlic saloon though lie may have been a kind- hearted and indulgent father becomes a tyrant and a brute in bis own family, ft manufactures wife beaters, murder­ ers and thieves. It breeds disease and corrupts morals. The liquor sold there causes men to lose their reason and be­ cause of it our land is full of murders and suicides.—Lever, A law has been passed in France un­ der which habitual drunkards can be declared to have lost the right to have charge of their children, and the duty of looking after the young people can be transferred to the department of public assistance. A similar provision should be mode with drunken parents in this land,.particularly so with those who are habitually inebriated, A very curious remedy for drunken- ness was accidentally discovered in St, Petersburg. A laborer on a prolonged, spree,and stupidly drunk,stumbled into a grocery, and, not knowing where he was or what he was doing, drank a large quantity of petroleum from an open cask. With difficulty he was , dragged away and when the propriotOr expected him to die he arose perfectly sober and walked off quite free from all his previous symptoms.—Lancet. S urgeon G eneral S utherland , in his annual report, says, that “one thing is certain, drunkenness is on the de­ crease among our troops." II# as­ cribes the improvement to the post canteen system, and says that every medical officer hut one wlio has made a report has approved of the system of selling beer to the soldiers, as a substi­ tute for the whisky they would other­ wise got, It cannot be established in Kansas and South Dakota, on account of the' prohibition laws; and the sol­ diers in the forts in those states resort to the towns and spend their money iu the saloons, and return to the post tin­ der the influence of liquor. Fines and imprisonment follow, and discipline is much injured,